(The Epoch Times)—U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials on Saturday told states to “undo any steps” that were taken in recent days to disperse full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November.
In a memo, the agency told states to release only 65 percent of SNAP benefits, known as food stamps, during the ongoing government shutdown. States that already sent the additional 35 percent are mandated to claw it back, it said.
“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized. Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025,” the USDA said, warning that it could take action against states if the money is not returned or if 100 percent is sent to beneficiaries.
The memo said that failure by states “to comply with this memorandum may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the Federal share of State administrative costs and holding States liable for any overissuances that result from the noncompliance.”
It added that the USDA is still working to keep the states informed about the funding situation.
The memo was issued in light of the U.S. Supreme Court order on Nov. 7 that granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal to block a lower court order that required 100 percent of benefits sent out during the shutdown. That lower court judge had given the Republican administration until Friday to make the payments, prompting the appeal.
After a U.S. appeals court declined to immediately intervene, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued an order late on Nov. 6 pausing the requirement to distribute full SNAP payments until the appeals court rules on whether to issue a more lasting pause. Jackson handles emergency matters arising from Massachusetts.
Her order will remain in place until 48 hours after the appeals court rules, giving the administration time to return to the Supreme Court if the appeals court declines to step in.
After the lower court order, some states issued SNAP payments for November, including Wisconsin, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and others.
The Trump administration told the Supreme Court that the quick-acting states were “trying to seize what they could of the agency’s finite set of remaining funds, before any appeal could even be filed, and to the detriment of other States’ allotments.”
“Once those billions are out the door, there is no ready mechanism for the government to recover those funds,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the court filing to the high court.
In a statement last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that she “directed state agencies to issue full federal SNAP benefits for November” and that the first New Yorkers should “begin having access to their benefits starting Sunday.”
The SNAP funding lapse comes more than a month after the government shutdown was initiated, after members of Congress could not come to an agreement on a stopgap funding bill. More than a dozen attempts to reopen the government have failed in the Senate, prompting President Donald Trump to call on GOP senators who hold the majority to terminate the filibuster to reopen the government.
Trump’s calls were rejected by some Republican senators, including Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). Thune said in an interview last week that there are not enough votes among Republican senators to remove the 60-vote procedural hurdle.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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What an absolute cluster.